With his good looks, natural athletic ability and probably a fat new pro contract soon with the Avalanche, Gabriel Landeskog could be forgiven if perhaps he carried himself in an entitled manner. Life, it seems, has come a little too easily to the 18-year-old so far.

A haughty air was one of the first things the Avs were wary of in their predraft meetings with the blond Swede, but they never found it. It's partly why the Avs quickly became sold on Landeskog when deciding whom to take with the second overall pick in Friday's draft in St. Paul, Minn.

Try as they might to find reasons to cross Landeskog off the list, the Avs couldn't do it.

NHL Draft

"He was our guy pretty much from the start," Avalanche executive adviser and all-time leading scorer Joe Sakic said. "He's just got everything you're looking for in a young hockey player. We're really happy to have this kid."

It was Sakic who handed Landeskog his first Avs jersey following his selection, and it was another legendary former Av, Peter Forsberg, who called him Saturday to wish him good luck.

Reaching personal goals

Landeskog grew up dreaming of being a hockey player, but it seemed more of a pipe dream. While learning English as a boy growing up in Stockholm, he pictured himself using it one day just as he did Friday night — answering questions from a primarily North American media.

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"I knew if I learned English well and understood it well, it would only help me with my dream," said Landeskog, who, along with fellow first-round pick Duncan Siemens, will meet the Denver media Tuesday at the Pepsi Center .

Landeskog is a proud Swede, but says "the National Hockey League was what I always thought about." He tacked posters of Forsberg to his bedroom wall, idolizing him for his talent and toughness, and tried to emulate his style.

The Avs can only dream Landeskog will be anywhere near as good as Forsberg, but Sakic sees traits common to both already.

"Peter was more shy, but he had that confidence about him. You can see that same kind of confidence with this kid," Sakic said. "We're not expecting another Peter Forsberg, just the best he can be, and we think that'll be pretty good."

Avalanche coach Joe Sacco spoke with Landeskog for only a few minutes on draft night, but couldn't help but come away impressed.

"He's a little bit beyond his years, I think, both physically and mentally," Sacco said. "He looks like he's 23, 24 years old and seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders. The biggest thing I thought was, he was so excited. It seemed like getting picked by us was what he was hoping for, so that's always a bonus."

Paul Fixter, a former Avs video coach and current assistant coach with Landeskog's junior team in Kitchener, Ontario, said Landeskog has high-end skill on the ice and reminds him a lot of former Avs leader Mike Keane off the ice.

"He's very sharp, very funny, very vocal," said Fixter, a former head coach of the Hershey Bears of the AHL. "He was our team captain and was a great leader like (Keane). He is just a very determined young guy. He came over from Sweden to Ontario, on his own, with a plan, and made it happen."

All in the family

Despite receiving so much praise for his individual determination, Landeskog credits his family for everything. His father, Tony, in the insurance business in Sweden, played pro hockey for Hammarby of the Swedish Elite League for two seasons and several years in the second-tier division. His mother, Cecelia, is a chef and teaches a food nutrition class.

"I had first-class food at home, with my mom not only making me Swedish meatballs, but just being a great friend," said Landeskog, a 6-foot-1, 207-pound left wing. "My dad is a real hard-working man who taught me a lot about hockey on the ice, but also how to accept criticism and success off of it."

Landeskog has a twin sister, Beatrice, and a brother, Adam, who turns 21 this week.

"They both play soccer," Landeskog said. "I played soccer too, but hockey was always my favorite. I'm sure I got that from my dad, from him being a pro player."

Ready to go

Neither Fixter nor Kitchener coach Steve Spott expects to see Landeskog back in Kitchener next season. The Avs have holes at left wing, and showed two years ago they aren't afraid of keeping teenagers when Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly made the team as 18-year-olds.

Still, despite seemingly having had everything always in place to be where he is now, Landeskog isn't taking anything for granted. He knows he has yet to play an NHL game, and knows if he doesn't have a good training camp and/or start to the regular season, he could be sent back to Kitchener before the 10-game cutoff mark.

"I don't know if I'd be disappointed or just more determined to go to Kitchener and work that much harder to prove I can play in Colorado," Landeskog said.

With a confident — but not haughty — air, he added, "My goal is to be playing in Denver the whole year."

The Landeskog file

Age: 18. Born Nov. 23, 1992, in Stockholm.

Height/weight: 6-foot-1, 207 pounds.

Position: Left wing.

Fast facts: He moved to Ontario at age 16 and was drafted by the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, but was traded to Kitchener. . . . His former roommate at Kitchener was Jeff Skinner, the Carolina Hurricanes' young star. . . . At 16 years and 90 days, Landeskog became the youngest player to play for Djurgarden of the Swedish Elite League.

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